1st Story from our Rider Mr. Parvez Hashmi:
Its always a pleasure/pride to ride being an ABCian.
Ride to Polo was desperately awaited since it was announced, Such long rides always teaches different/useful lessons. Ride to polo is the 2ndlongest ride i did so far, i cycled 147 kms in 8hrs. 80% of the route had headwinds, the ride seemed to be like covering 170-180 kms.
The story goes like this :
22 cyclists started the ride from Restore Clinic sharp at 5am. Good Chilly Morning & 150 kms in mind, fully focused and fully charged. Headwinds which was there in everyone's mind didn't bother until unless crossed airport road. It was quite dark on the route from krishnanagar to Naroda. I had company of Dr. Nishit Shah on the naroda to Chiloda route, heavy traffic of trucks was constant and atleast 4-5 times we had to get off-road. I and Nishitbhai started drafting as it was heavy headwind as well as traffic coming from opposite direction, Unfortunately Nishitbhai had a fall on the road side while getting back on the road, i was just behind him and saw him falling and fortunately we escaped a serious accident as one Bus was too close to Nishitbhai. Wiping the dirt and some bruise nishitbhai started paddling again and it gave a tremendous motivation of riding again. Hats off to him as he completed the ride as well.
Passing Chiloda, Sun started rising and so the speed i had a good 27+ speed, i crossed 6-7 riders including Dr. Anand Dalal and was very happy of my speed and performance and suddenly saw Kumaril standing on the side of a road with his punctured bike, well it was time to take a small break as well as help the team member, quickly i took off the tyre, changed the tube it was less then 6-7 mins, i was very happy of this performance as well after fitting the tyre i observed 4-5 team members had stopped to assist me & then i realised that i didn't checked the tyre before installing. i had to redo the entire exercise and that took a thick half an hour. Meanwhile Jayeshbhai joined the gang and was also hurt on the naroda-chiloda highway like Nishitbhai. However everyone started paddling again, well by this time i had lost the rhythm of speed but was happy to help Kumaril.
Kumaril again had some problem in his bike and unfortunately he had to tow his bike on the car & call it off. that was demotivating for me atleast. I had company of Satpalji Singh, Nishitbhai, Jayeshbhai & Dr. Anand. It became Pleasure ride from Speed. Sorry to mention but we had enjoyed the Himmatnagar naa Bhajiya which killed again half an hour. Ride from Himmatnagar to Idar was very confusing as some places we took wrong routes. However didnot wasted much time and got back on track. Renu also joined us after crossing Himmatnagar. The weather was no more cold but not too hot.
Started getting heavy headwinds after crossing Idar and the a bit rough patch too. It was more of hill route so came across many accent and decent. Was tired after Idar as had to get into the traffic & Idiot public asking many questions. I was so tired that my speed dropped to 15-16kmph & was left alone-nishitbhai and jayeshbhai also took lead and were far, had an opportunity to ride behind a tractor which was speeding 25-28. I took this opportunity and paddled hard drafting behind. Well it was like a wall for me and my speedo started showing increase in speed, i had a constant speed of 26-27 for about 7-8 kms. I over took Nishitbhai & Jayeshbhai and reached the last Car to sign and missed the tractor then after. Well it was just 25 kms from there. i gathered all my courage and strength and started paddling again. Had a great relief after noticing Hotel Ashirwad as it was just 12 kms from the goal. I don't know i started zooming towards the goal and reached Kadoli Farm by 13:00 hrs and was very happy as this time i was not the last rider.
As always i was warmly welcomed by the team as a hero. After 2 glass full of protein shake & warm bath hugged the lunch and started chatting with the team members, i also came to know that there were 4 more accidents took place during the tour.
Hats off to Dr. Nishit & Jayeshbhai for completing the tour ever after they had an accident & i appreciate Renu Mittal for her dedication and completing the tour as well, she has been always an inspiration.
Well it was a great tour. I learnt to be more vigilant riding during dark.
2nd Story from one of our other Riders Mr. T.S. Walia:
This being my first long ride comprising of 145 Kms , I had mentally prepared myself to complete it both ways .
I had done previously Dehgam and Mehmedabad rides, but did face problem like cramps, puncture etc .
Starting
was good and was doing well till Himmatnagar .But thereafter due to
continuous head wind, gradient , cramps etc wasn't able to ride more
then 5 kms at a stretch. This was basically as I was not putting any
salt in the liquid and no proper tyre pressure.
But
still carried on till Ashirwad restaurant and ride after this for 18
kms was done on account of sheer endurance and will power.
Support team did a good job in helping us to move forward and for doing such a nice photography .
On
reaching Kadoli Farms I was amazed by the warm welcome given by the ABC
team followed by protein shake which helped in regaining/ recover /
relax muscles .Food was really good and also had a nice time meeting all
the team members and getting to know them. I was also overwhelmed with
Mrs and Mr Harsh Wardhan Rathod hospitality at the Kadoli farms.
Ride
from Kadoli farms to Ahmedabad was really enjoying as I suddenly found
riding at good speed after tweaking height of the seat, tyre pressure
and liquid contents .I am really thankful to Gaurav and Harsh for giving
the guidance.
Overall it was a very nice experience.
